A bass guitar that Paul McCartney used while on tour with The Wings has worked its way into the record books. At a recent auction, the Yamaha BB-1200 McCartney once owned broke the world record for the most expensive bass after it was sold for $496,100 (£374,905). It breaks the previous record that was set by The Rolling Stones‘ Bill Wyman’s 1969 Fender Mustang bass, which was sold for $384,000 (£290,190) last year. The auction was organized by U2’s The Edge and producer Bob Ezrin for their charity Music Rising, which aims to “benefit musicians in the Gulf South” after the “devastation the COVID-19 pandemic has wrought on musicians and musical communities.”
McCartney’s bass was not the only record-breaking item sold at the auction. Eddie Vedder’s Lake Placid Blue Fender Telecaster, which he once destroyed during a show, broke the record for the most expensive smashed guitar after it sold for $266,200 (£201,168). The likes of Elton John, Pearl Jam, Rush, Tom Morello, Joan Jett, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Kings Of Leon, Johnny Marr, Green Day, Radiohead, and Arcade Fire’s Win Butler also donated instruments to the auction. In total, $2 million (£1.5 million) was raised.
McCartney recently joined Foo Fighters at October’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame to play The Beatles classic “Get Back” at the induction ceremony.
You can watch a video of McCartney using the record-breaking bass guitar above.